It's seven-thirty in the evening. You've been trying to get dinner going since five, the little one is tired, and so are you. You give them the phone for ten minutes and the house falls silent. And in that silence, the uncomfortable question arises: how much is too much. If you've come this far looking for screen time for children by age, you're most likely not looking for a rule, but permission to stop feeling bad.
We're going to give you both: the numbers recommended by the Spanish Association of Pediatrics, updated on March 26, 2025, and something almost no one talks about. Taking away the screen is the easy part. The hard part is the void it leaves behind.
There's no alarmism here. No evening of cartoons has ruined anyone's childhood. What does help is having a clear reference and a plan for normal days, which are most days.
In summary
- 0 to 6 years: the AEP recommends avoiding screens. Only with an adult present and for specific social contact moments, like a video call with grandparents.
- 7 to 12 years: less than one hour a day, including homework. Never in the bathroom or bedroom.
- 13 to 16 years: less than two hours a day, and delay the first smartphone with internet as much as possible.
- The new update for 2025: there is no safe screen time for children under 6 years old. It's not that there's a threshold and below it doesn't matter; it's that there is no threshold.
- Reducing screen time without replacing it with something specific almost never works. The plan matters more than the rule.
- There will be days when the screen is the only way out. That doesn't make you a bad parent or invalidate everything else.
What the AEP specifically recommends as of March 2025
The Spanish Association of Pediatrics updated its recommendations on screen use in childhood and adolescence on March 26, 2025. You can read the full document in the official AEP note.
There's a fundamental change from previous versions. Before, limits were discussed in age ranges, with the implicit idea that everything was fine below the limit. Now the wording is more direct: there is no safe screen time for children under six years of age. That is, at these ages, the goal is not to adjust the clock, but for use to be exceptional and supervised.
It's important to read it without dramatizing. The AEP doesn't say that a screen causes irreversible harm. It says that in the early years, the brain learns in a way that screens don't replicate: hands, body, error, repetition, and the face of a responsive adult.
Screen time for children by age: the table
This is the summarized reference. Save it, print it, or send it to whoever looks after your children on Tuesdays.
| Age | AEP Recommendation | What it means in daily life |
|---|---|---|
| 0-2 years | Avoid screens completely | Not even in the background. A TV on with no one watching also takes away from words and glances. |
| 3-6 years | Avoid. Only with adult supervision and for specific social contact moments | Video call with family, yes. Autoplay of short videos alone, no. |
| 7-12 years | Less than 1 hour a day, including homework | If schoolwork is digital, it has already used up part of the allowance. Never in bathrooms or bedrooms. |
| 13-16 years | Less than 2 hours a day | Delay the first smartphone with internet. Agree on rules before giving it, not after. |
Two honest caveats. Homework time counts, and in many schools, that complicates the number. And not all use is equal: half an hour of video calling with grandma and half an hour of chained short videos don't leave the same impression, even if the stopwatch marks the same time.
Why screens are so addictive and wooden toys aren't
This is the part that explains almost everything, and it's rarely told.
Screens provide immediate and constant rewards. You touch, and something happens. Every three seconds there's a new color, a sound, a turn. There's no waiting or possibility of error. The child doesn't have to endure frustration because frustration never appears.
A wooden toy works the opposite way. You place a piece and it falls. You place it again and it falls again. The reward comes late, it's small, and it has to be earned. Compared side-by-side, they don't compete on equal terms: it's like asking someone to choose between a candy and a meal.
From this come two practical consequences. One: don't expect the toy to win the direct comparison: the first ten minutes after taking away the tablet are usually a disaster, and that's normal. Two: the waiting that the toy forces you to endure is precisely what you are training. Boredom is not a failure of the plan; it is the plan.
If you want to understand better why some toys last for years and others for two weeks, we elaborate on it in this article on open-ended play.
The problem isn't the screen: it's the void it leaves
Almost all attempts to reduce screen time fail for the same reason. The device is removed and nothing is put in its place. Forty empty minutes appear, a child who doesn't know what to do with them, and an adult who did have something to do with them.
Half an hour later, the screen comes back, and it comes back with a guilty conscience. The conclusion you draw isn't "I lacked a plan," it's "I can't." And that's not true.
Change the order. First, decide what you'll fill the void with. Then, remove the screen. Never the other way around.
What to put in the void: seven options that truly last
Ordered by what usually works best for children aged 3 to 6. You don't need to do all of them or buy anything to start.
- A real household chore. Setting the table, beating eggs, putting clothes in the washing machine. Boring for you, fascinating for them at that age, and it happens right next to you while you cook.
- A very short board game. Five minutes, with a clear ending. The advantage isn't the game itself, it's that it has a beginning and an end, and that brings order to the afternoon.
- A physical challenge toy, like stacking, fitting, or balancing. It's the most direct substitute because it occupies the hands, which is exactly what the screen occupied.
- Water. A basin, two cups, a colander. It's the activity with the best effort-to-minutes ratio that exists.
- Drawing with a specific prompt. "An animal that lives underground" works; "draw something" does not work.
- Go out for seven minutes. Not an excursion: go downstairs, walk around the block, and come back. It breaks the loop better than any lecture.
- Be bored in plain sight. Leave fifteen minutes with no suggestions. It's hard at first but yields the best results in the long run.
If you're looking for concrete plans for a day when you can't go out, we have a long list in twelve screen-free plans for a rainy afternoon. And if you prefer to have the suggestion ready when the time comes, we've gathered in the Less Screen collection the toys that best fill that afternoon void.
How to reduce screen time without starting a war
Sudden withdrawal almost always backfires. These four things work better:
- Warn before the end, not at the end. "When this chapter finishes," and stick to it.
- Let the rule be the clock's, not yours. A visible timer turns the conflict into "time's up" instead of "Dad took it away."
- Fixed schedules instead of daily negotiation. If screen time is always at the same hour, it stops being a point of contention for the rest of the day.
- Out of the bedroom and bathroom, at all ages. The AEP is clear on this.
We've developed the step-by-step, including the worst first week, in how to take away the tablet without starting a war.
When the screen is the only option
It must be said clearly. There are afternoons when you're alone with two children and one of them has a thirty-nine degree fever. There are four-hour car journeys. There are weeks when you arrive home exhausted at seven and have nothing more to give.
In these cases, the screen is a tool, and using it is reasonable, not a moral failure. The AEP's recommendation describes the usual weekly pattern, it doesn't judge the specific Tuesday when it saved your afternoon.
What does change things is that the exception doesn't become the default system without you realizing it. And for that, again, what helps isn't willpower: it's having something prepared. That's the whole idea behind No screens. No tantrums. Just play., which is where Nooki began.
Which toy fits each age
If you fill the void with play, make sure it's something adjusted to what the child can do today. A challenge that's too difficult frustrates and ends up in the drawer; one that's too easy gets boring in two days.
Before three years, hands and mouth rule: large, safe objects with no small parts. From three to six, they can handle challenges with rules, turns, and waiting. You'll find it broken down in our guide to Montessori toys by age.
An honest warning about our catalog: all Nooki toys are for 3 years and up and contain small parts; each product page indicates its specific age range, which goes from 3 to 8 years depending on the game. If your child is under three years old, we are not yet the answer, and we prefer to tell you that rather than sell you something that will end up stored in a closet.
Frequently asked questions
How much screen time can a 3-year-old have?
The AEP recommends avoiding screens until six years of age, and using them only with an adult present and for specific social contact moments, such as a family video call. In its March 2025 update, it states it even more clearly: there is no safe use time below six years of age.
Does background TV count?
Yes, and it's one of the least discussed aspects. Even if the child isn't watching, background TV reduces the words they hear and interactions with adults in the house. In young children, this continuous noise directly competes with the language they are developing. Turning it off when no one is watching is one of the cheapest changes.
Does homework on a tablet count towards the limit?
According to the AEP, yes: for the 7 to 12 age group, the daily hour includes homework. In practice, this means that if schoolwork is digital, a good part of the allowance is already spent before leisure. It's worth considering when allocating afternoon time.
What if my child already spends many hours a day on screens?
You don't have to cut it off suddenly. Reduce in fifteen-minute increments per week and replace each increment with something specific that has already been decided beforehand. Expect protests for the first few days: these are a sign that the habit was established, not that the plan is failing.
Is screen time better with company than alone?
Much better. Watching something together, commenting on it, and answering questions turns passive consumption into a conversation. The AEP insists on adult supervision precisely for this reason. It doesn't replace hands-on play, but the difference between watching with company and watching alone is real.
To conclude
It's not about reaching zero screen time or turning every afternoon into an educational activity. It's about having something on the table that competes when that dead hour of seven arrives. If you're looking for where to start, Rain is the one that lasts the longest during that time of day, because it forces you to slow down precisely when everything is rushing.